Cleaning roller and dust removal apparatus equipped with the same

ABSTRACT

A cleaning roller and a dust removal apparatus equipped with the same, the roller includes a roller member and a pivotal axle portion arranged inside the roller member. The roller member is of a cylindrical shape and includes a hollow space formed therein. A brush covers an outer surface of the roller member, and the pivotal axle portion is arranged inside the hollow space. The roller member is made of a soft material to allow the roller member to be compressed due to an external force exerted thereon and to generate a deformation together with the brush. Accordingly, tangled hair on the brush can be removed easily through the deformation of the soft material, thereby achieving the objective of cleaning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The technical field relates to a cleaning tool, in particular, to acleaning roller and a dust removal apparatus equipped with such roller.

Description of Related Art

Interior cleaning is one of the routine household jobs performed dailynowadays. In addition to the general dust removal and cleaning, theremoval of falling hair during cleaning typically requires greatereffort, and cleaning rollers capable of picking up falling hair duringcleaning are often used. Users may exert force manually or use mechanismto roll the cleaning rollers on areas, such as floor, desired forcleaning in order to pick up falling hair with the rollers, therebyachieving the objective of cleaning.

Nevertheless, since conventional rollers are mostly made of materialswith certain rigidity and the hair attached thereon often tangle witheach other, the cleaning of such rollers and removal of tangled hairthereon are extremely difficult. Consequently, after a period of time ofuse, the cleanness and hygiene of such cleaning tool cannot bemaintained mostly due to extensive tangled hair attached thereon.

In view of above, the inventor seeks to overcome the aforementioneddrawback associated with the currently existing technology after yearsof research and development along with the utilization of academictheories, which is also the objective of the development of the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a cleaningroller and a dust removal apparatus equipped with the same. The cleaningroller is made of a soft material to allow hair attached or tangledthereon to be removed easily through the deformation of the softmaterial, thereby achieving the objective of facilitated cleaningthereof.

To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention providesa cleaning roller, comprising a roller member and a pivotal axle portionarranged inside the roller member. The roller member is of a cylindricalshape and includes a hollow space formed therein, and a brush covers anouter surface of the roller member. The pivotal axle portion is arrangedinside the hollow space of the roller member. In addition, the rollermember is made a software material to allow the roller member to becompressed due to an external force exerted thereon and to generate adeformation together with the brush.

To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention providesa dust removal apparatus, such as a vacuum cleaner, cleaning robot orany type of cleaning tool, equipped with the aforementioned cleaningroller installed thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the roller and supports of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective assembly view of the roller and supporters thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an internal structure of the rollerand the supporters of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective assembly view of the dust removal apparatus andthe roller of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the roller of the present inventionafter the use thereof;

and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the roller of the present inventionafter the cleaning thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To facilitate the understanding of the technical features and technicalcontent of the present invention, the following provides a detaileddescription of the present invention along with the accompanieddrawings. However, it shall be understood that the accompanied drawingsare provided for reference and illustrative purpose only such that theyshall not be treated as limitations of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, showing a perspectiveexploded view, a perspective assembly view and an internal structureschematic view of the roller and supporters of the present inventionrespectively. The present invention provides a cleaning roller and adust removal apparatus equipped with such roller. The roller 1 can beapplied to various cleaning tools or the aforementioned dust removalapparatus 2 (i.e. as shown in FIG. 5). The dust removal apparatus 2 canbe a vacuum cleaner or a cleaning robot. The roller 1 comprises a rollermember 10 and pivotal axle portion 11 arranged inside the roller member.

The roller member 10 is of a cylindrical shape and configured to performrolling. In addition, the cylindrical roller 10 includes a hollow space100 formed therein in order to allow a structure, such as a pivotal axle(not shown in the drawings), to be pivotally attached thereto in orderto be used in various types of cleaning tools, or to be installed on theaforementioned dust cleaning apparatus 2. A brush 101 covers an outersurface of the roller member 10; therefore, when the roller member 10 ispushed or driven by an external force to roll on an area to be cleaned,the brush 101 is able to pick up dust or hair in order to achieve theobjective of cleaning.

Accordingly, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thebrush 101 can consist of bristles having different softness dependingupon the actual application needs. In other words, the brush can, atleast, include a first brush portion 101 a and a second brush portion101 b; wherein the first brush portion 101 a can be softer than thesecond brush portion 101 b. In addition, the outer surface of the rollermember 10 can be reserved or formed of a slot 102 having no brush formedthereon in order to be used for the purpose of dust collection.Furthermore, the slot 102 can be of a “V” or “U” shape, or it can beformed of a wave shape or a plurality of spiral lines. Moreover, it canalso be configured to match with the rolling direction.

Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The pivotal axle portion 11 isarranged inside the hollow space 100 of the aforementioned roller member10, and it can be pivotally attached onto any type of cleaning tool orthe aforementioned dust removal apparatus 2. In an exemplary embodimentof the present invention, the pivotal axle portion 11 can include anaxle sleeve 110 and a plurality of connecting ribs 111 formed to extendfrom the axle sleeve 110 and connected to an internal of the rollermember 10. Furthermore, the axle sleeve 110 can include at least one keygroove 112 provided for the positioning and alignment of the pivotalaxle pivotally attached thereon. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, theroller 1 can then be installed onto a cleaning tool or device, such asthe aforementioned dust removal apparatus 2 mentioned above.

After the roller 1 is used on the aforementioned dust removal apparatus2 or a cleaning tool, as shown in FIG. 6, the brush 101 of the roller 1is able to pick up dirt objects including dust and hair attachedthereon. However, due to messy and tangled hair thereon, the brush 101may not be cleaned easily. As the present invention mainly utilizes aroller member 10 made of a soft material, and such soft material can be,such as, rubber, the roller member 10 can be compressed with adeformation under an external force exerted thereon, and the brush 101covering the outer surface of the roller member 10 can also deformaccordingly. Consequently, the tangled hair on the brush 101 can beseparated from the brush 101 easily in such way that when an externalforce is exerted onto the dirt objects, such as hair, along an axialdirection of the roller member 10 thereon, such dirt objects can beremoved from the brush 101 easily, thereby achieving the objective offacilitated cleaning. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 7, the presentinvention can also use a removal tool 13 to perform the dirt objectremoval. The removal tool 13 can be a cylindrical member, and itincludes an insertion hole 130 provided to allow the roller 1 to beinserted therein. The aperture “d” of the insertion hole 130 is greaterthan an outer diameter of the roller 10 but smaller than an outerdiameter of the brush 101. Accordingly, when the roller 1 is insertedinto the insertion hole 130, it is able to remove the tangled hair onthe brush 101.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. The present invention canalso further include a plurality of supporters 12 additionally formedinside the hollow space 100 of the roller member 10. The plurality ofsupporters 12 can also be made of a rubber or sponge material and can bearranged at two sides of the pivotal axle portion 11 respectively. Inaddition, the pivotal axle portion 11 can also be integrally formed withthe roller member 10; in other words, the pivotal axle portion 11 canalso be made of a soft material. Moreover, the connecting ribs 111 canhave a bending profile in order to increase the extent of bending duringthe deformation caused by the external force exerted on the rollermember 10.

In view of the above, with the aforementioned structure andconfiguration, a cleaning roller and a dust removal apparatus equippedwith the same of the present invention can be achieved.

Accordingly, the preset invention is able to achieve the objectives ofthe present invention and overcoming the drawbacks of the known arts.Furthermore, the present invention is of novelty and inventive step suchthat it satisfies the patentability for an invention patent. Patentapplication is hereby filed according to the laws for the grant of thepatent rights in light of protecting the rights of the inventor.

The above describes the preferable and feasible exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention for illustrative purposes only, which shall not betreated as limitations of the scope of the present invention. Anyequivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scopeof the claims of the present invention shall be considered to be withinthe scope of the claim of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cleaning roller comprising: a roller member having a cylindrical shape and a hollow space formed therein, and a brush covering an outer surface of the roller member; and a pivotal axle portion arranged inside the hollow space of the roller member; wherein the roller member is made a software material to allow the roller member to be compressed due to an external force exerted thereon and to generate a deformation together with the brush.
 2. The cleaning roller according to claim 1, wherein the hollow space of the roller member includes a plurality of supporters formed therein and arranged at two sides of the pivotal axle portion respectively.
 3. The cleaning roller according to claim 2, wherein the supporters are made a rubber or sponge material.
 4. The cleaning roller according to claim 1, wherein the brush comprises a first brush portion and a second brush portion, and the first brush portion is softer than the second brush portion.
 5. The cleaning roller according to claim 4, wherein the outer surface of the roller member includes a slot formed and reserved thereon.
 6. The cleaning roller according to claim 5, wherein the slot is of a “V” or “U” shape, or is formed by a wave shape or a plurality of spiral lines.
 7. The cleaning roller according to claim 1, wherein the pivotal axle portion is integrally formed with the roller member.
 8. The cleaning roller according to claim 1, wherein the pivotal axle portion includes an axle sleeve and a plurality of connecting ribs formed to extend from the axle sleeve and connected to an internal of the roller member.
 9. The cleaning roller according to claim 1, further comprising a removal tool, and the removal tool includes an insertion hole provided for the roller to be inserted therein; an aperture of the insertion hole is greater than an outer diameter of the roller member but smaller than an outer diameter of the brush.
 10. A dust removal apparatus, comprising a cleaning roller according to claim
 1. 